


Calling Home

by SeveralSmallHedgehogs



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Klance if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 11:39:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10189115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeveralSmallHedgehogs/pseuds/SeveralSmallHedgehogs
Summary: Coran, with Hunk's help, has managed to make something similar to a cell phone. The best part? It can reach earth. So, the Paladins do what everyone does when they're homesick.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Far beneath the ship, the world is mourning  
> They don't realize, he's alive  
> No one understands but Major Tom sees  
> Now the light commands, this is my home  
> I'm coming home  
> Earth below us  
> Drifting, falling,  
> Floating weightless  
> Calling home
> 
> I saw [this post](http://knacke.tumblr.com/post/158168311373/lances-life-from-his-familys-point-of-view) on tumblr and felt the need to write something where the paladins contact their families.
> 
> (Yes, I am aware of the scientific inaccuracies in this fic. I would also like to point out that it takes place in a universe where there are giant metal space lions and literal magic.)

The news programs pretty much all said the same thing.

“The same night the international hero Takashi Shirogane, pilot of the lost Kerberos mission, had returned to Earth, he disappeared yet again. Less than an hour after he crashed in a ship made of nothing the world had ever seen, an unknown person broke into the room where he was being kept and seemingly kidnapped him. When personnel from the Garrison chased after him, they reported multiple people on the hoverbike the kidnapper escaped on.

That same night, three cadets disappeared from the Galaxy Garrison. Their relationship to the kidnapper is unknown.”

The missing cadets’ families practically charged into the Garrison and right into Iverson’s office.

“What do you mean, _“it’s classified?”_ ” Hunk’s father demanded.

“We can’t divulge any more information to the public,” Iverson replied stiffly.

“The _public?_ ” snapped Lance’s mother. “My _son_ is _missing,_ and you won’t even tell us what _happened_ to him?”

Mrs. Holt pushed to the front. She was crying. “I’ve already lost my husband and my son to this place,” she snarled. “And now you tell me Katie has been here for _months?_ And you never sent her _home?_ ”

“We weren’t aware that your daughter was posing as a student,” Iverson began, but Pidge’s mother interrupted him.

“She’s _fourteen!_ What kind of security measures do you _have_ here?”

It was half an hour before the Garrison managed to remove the cadets’ distraught families from the premises.

 

 

The Paladins had just returned from a routine mission clearing out some Galra when Coran called them to the common room. Lance was the last one to arrive; when she stepped into the room, Allura, Coran, and the rest of the Paladins were all standing around.

“Hey, guys,” he said, trying to sound light. “What’s up?”

Allura looked at Coran. “Coran?”

Coran looked up from the device he’d been fiddling with. It was about the size and shape of a slice of bread, but Lance had no idea what it might be for.

“Ah, right!” Coran straightened. “You see, after I talked to Lance that day the Balmera crystal was damaged by Sendak’s device, I got to thinking. You Paladins need a way to contact your families! So, I’ve been working on this device. It should be able to reach the communication devices on Earth! I talked to Hunk about it, and he’s been helping me design it.”

Hunk got to his feet and trotted over. “Did you manage to get it to recognize phone numbers?”

“I think so,” Coran said. “We just need to try it out now!”

The Paladins looked at each other. “Who wants to go first?” Shiro asked.

Keith spoke up immediately. “you should,” he told Shiro. “You’ve been gone the longest.”

But Shiro shook his head. “You guys should go first.”

In the end, they decided to let Pidge try first. Her mom had already lost the rest of her family; she might as well know her daughter was still alive and well.

Pidge dialed her mom’s number and put the makeshift phone up to her ear. The Paladins waited in silence. Then they heard a click and a muffled voice from the other end.

Pidge swallowed. “Mom,” she said, and immediately tears trailed down her cheeks. “It’s- it’s Katie.”

The others cleared off, giving her space to talk to her mom. Shiro, Allura, and Coran went to go do something regarding navigation, but the rest of the Paladins remained in the room.

Lance heard Katie tell her mom that she didn’t know where her dad and Matt were, but she’d found Matt on a few monitors. He heard her say that she was with Shiro and the other cadets from the Garrison, and that no, they hadn’t kidnapped Shiro, and who said they did that?

Pidge turned from the phone to tell the other Paladins, “The Garrison’s saying we kidnapped Shiro after he got back to Earth.”

They all look at each other. “Well,” Hunk said slowly. “I guess we kinda did, didn’t we?”

“Keith’s the one who broke in and knocked out the guards,” Lance protested.

Keith scowled. “You guys were the ones who insisted on coming along. Weren’t you saying something about how _you_ were going to rescue Shiro?”

Pdige glanced over her shoulder, irritated. “Would you guys quiet down?” Then she returned to her conversation with her mom.

Lance moved away to talk to Hunk, but they stayed in the room and waited for their turn with the phone. After a little while, Pidge sighed and told her mom, “I should let the others have a turn with the phone. Yeah. Yeah, I’ll call you again as soon as possible. Love you, too Mom.”

Then she took the phone away from her ear and sighed. “Who’s next?” she asked.

Lance told Hunk to go next. Hunk called his parents and got much the same treatment. Lance heard him trying to reassure his parents about the situation. “It’s not so bad,” he said. “I mean, I’ve got my friends and a whole castle-ship!”

Then it was Lance’s turn. Hunk handed him the phone and wished him good luck. Lance tired for a smile but only managed a grimace as he sat down on the couch.

He dialed his mom’s cell number, took a deep breath, and hit ‘talk.’ As the phone rang, his knee started to bob, as it always did when he was anxious. His mom didn’t always answer numbers she didn’t recognize. At the very least, he could leave her a message on voicemail…

Then there was a _click._ “Hello? Who is this?”

That was his mom’s voice. Oh, god, he hadn’t heard it in over a year now. He hadn’t realized until this moment exactly how much he missed her.

“Uh, hi, Mom,” Lance said, and his voice cracked. He quickly cleared his throat. “It’s- it’s Lance.”

There was a pause. “Lance?” she repeated. He heard the other conversations in the room on her end suddenly halt.

“Yeah, it’s me. I- I’m sorry about not calling earlier. There was… I didn’t have my phone.” His knee started to bob again.

There was another pause. “Do you have a camera on your phone?”

“Uh... Hang on.” Lance took the phone away from his ear and studied the screen. There was a symbol on it that looked like it might be a camera...

He hit that one, and immediately the dark screen was replaced by an image from the camera in the computer in his living room. It wasn’t just his mom he found looking back at him, though; it was also his dad, his little brother, his older sister, and two of his nieces. They were all gaping.

Lance managed a smile. “Hi, guys.”

They all started talking at once. The adults asked him where he was, and what he had been doing, and why the Garrison wouldn’t tell them anything. If he was all right, what had happened. The kids wanted to know why he’d been gone so long and whether he’d gone to space yet.

“I-I’m fine,” Lance said, trying to answer their questions. “I’m in space. But, uh, not with the Garrison. I…” He sat back and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s… kind of a lot to explain.”

But he did manage to explain. It took a few tries, and his family had to keep stopping him and asking him to clarify. When he finally finished, the kids had more questions left than the adults. Granted, the adults seemed to be in something similar to shock.

“You met _Shiro?_ ” his little brother demanded while the adults tried to process the story. Of course, to kids, this was just the world they lived in. Giant space robots? Of course they were real! But Lance meeting a celebrity? _That_ was noteworthy.

“Uh… yeah, actually,” Lance replied. “He’s the Black Paladin. The head of Voltron.” Then he grinned. “Maybe I can get him in here to talk to you guys sometime. I’m pretty sure he’d be fine with it.”

His niece popped into view again. “What are _you_ on Voltron?” she wanted to know.

“My lion’s one of the legs,” Lance replied. “Same as Hunk. You guys remember me telling you about Hunk when I was still at the Garrison? My roommate? Oh, and my teammate Pidge is here, too. She’s a girl, though. Her name’s Katie Holt. Sam and Matt Holt were on the Kerberos Mission with Shiro, and she’s still looking for them.”

Lance’s mother frowned. “Has she called her mother yet?”

“Yeah,” Lance replied. “I held off til the very end. Hunk and Pidge already called their parents, and Shiro passed. The only one left is…” Lance looked up and realizd Keith was still in the room, standing silently against the wall. “Oh, sorry, Keith,” he said. “I guess I’ve been hogging the phone. You want a turn?” He glanced reluctantly at his family on the screen. But he didn’t want to hog the phone for so long that Keith didn’t get to call his family. He was a jerk, but he didn’t deserve _that._

But Keith shook his head. “No,” he mumbled. “You can keep talking. I’ve got nobody to call.” He pushed off of the wall and headed for the door.

Lance looked back at his family and made a split-second decision. “I’ll be right back,” he said. “There’s somebody I want you guys to meet.” Then he got to his feet and ran over to grab Keith’s elbow right as he was about to step out the door.

“Hey- what are you doing?” Keith demanded as Lance dragged him over to the couch.

“Guys, this is Keith,” Lance said, picking up the phone and stepping over so he and Keith were both in view of the camera. “He’s the red paladin! He’s one of Voltron’s arms!”

“Hi, Keith!” Lance’s neice said, giving him a gap-toothed grin.

“Uh, hi,” Keith replied, edging towards the door again.

Lance wrapped an arm around his shoulders to keep him in the frame, and then sat down, pulling Keith with him. “We were in the same class at the Garrison for a while! He’s a really great pilot. And he’s got a sword!”

“A _sword?_ ” shouted Lance’s brother, pushing his face into the frame. “I wanna see a sword!”

Keith blinking rapidly. “I don’t… have it on me right now.” He glanced down and pulled out his Galra blade. “But… I-I have this.”

Lance’s nieces and nephews and little siblings all started shouting at the same time. Whatever they were saying was indecipherable.

Once Keith got talking about swordplay, he seemed to relax. But he didn’t push Lance’s arm away, so Lance left it around his shoulders. This was one of the things he loved about his family; they accepted people right off the bat. It had been like this ever since he was a kid. Anytime he brought home a friend, they treated them like part of the family. They could make anyone feel at home.

“So, Lance,” his sister said, drawing him back into the conversation, “when are you coming home?”

There was a pause. Lance and Keith glanced at each other. Lance lowered his arm from Keith’s shoulders. “I… I don’t know,” he said. “There’s… a lot of people in danger. And I want to help them if I can.” He tried for a smile. “I’m sure it won’t take too much longer, though. I mean, we already took down the evil alien emperor.”

“Wow,” his niece marveled. “You’re like superheroes! With a supervillain and everything!”

Lance laughed, a little nervously, remembering all the times they’d nearly been killed. Fighting the Galra ships and all their mechs, getting separated from everyone, various planets where he could’ve been alien food. He didn’t mention this out loud. The cartoons never mentioned the fear that came along with never really knowing whether you and your friends would return from a mission.

“We are kinda like superheroes, aren’t we?” Lance said, nudging Keith with his shoulder.

“Uh, yeah,” Keith said, glancing at Lance. “Superheroes. Magical powers. Lance’s lion shoots lasers out of its tail.”

“ _Whoa!_ ” Lance’s brother exclaimed.

But the adults weren’t distracted. “So, you don’t know when you can come home?” his father asked, concerned. “All this sounds dangerous.”

“It’s fine,” Lance replied, still smiling. “We’re fine.”

His mother was frowning, too. “I’d like it if you came home as soon as possible, Lance. We were worried sick, and I’d like to see you again in person.”

Lance felt a lump form in his throat. “I miss you all too, Mom. I promise I’ll come home safe and sound.”

Then, unexpectedly, Keith spoke up. “I’ll keep an eye on him for you,” he said.

Slowly, Lance’s mom smiled and nodded. “I’ll hold you to that, young man,” she warned. “You seem responsible.”

Lance snorted. Keith elbowed him and told Lance’s mom, “Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ll keep him out of trouble.”

“All right.” She nodded again. “And when you all come back to Earth, Lance, make sure you bring Keith and all your friends with you. We’ll have a big party for all of you.”

“That sounds great, Mom.” Lance grinned. There was a pause, and he sat back and sighed. “I should probably go,” he said. “I’ve been on the phone longer than anyone else was.”

“Call us again soon,” his dad said.

Lance swallowed hard, feeling tears prickle in his eyes again, but he held them back. “I will, Dad.”

The kids said goodbye, and then the adults, and then Lance ended the call. Then he sat and stared at the screen for a moment.

“Something wrong?” Keith asked.

“No.” Lance sighed. “I just miss them, is all.” He looked up and tried for a smile. “But hey, my mom promised us a party. That’s something to look forward to when this is all over.”

Keith eyed him. “She was serious about that?”

“One hundred percent. My mom doesn’t joke around when it comes to parties. And I’m _definitely_ bringing all of you guys.” He sat back and grinned. “I can’t wait to see Coran and Allura’s faces when they taste my mom’s cooking. They’ll never go back to food goo.”

“You _are_ serious,” Keith said. “How are you planning to get all of us to your house?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” At Keith’s dubious look, Lance shrugged and grinned wider. “Hey, man. It’s not a party if your friends aren’t there.”

Keith studied him for a moment, and Lance thought he might’ve seen a ghost of a smile. But before he could be sure, Keith got to his feet. “All right,” he said. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“You better,” Lance said to his back. “The party’s gonna be _awesome,_ and you’ll seriously regret it if you miss it.”

“Well, then I’ll be sure not to.” Keith headed for the door, but before stepping out, he paused and half turned. “Your family seems… pretty cool.”  
            Lance grinned. “I know.” Then he paused and hazarded, “And the nice thing is, if anyone ever needs a family, they’re right there for them. Whether you’re blood related or not. Y’know, ‘there’s always room for one more’ and all that.”

Keith turned to look at him. There was a long silence while they just watched each other. Then Keith’s gaze dropped to the floor. “They sound pretty great.”

“They are,” Lance assured him, sitting up straighter. “And as soon as we get back to Earth, I’ll take you home and show you _exactly_ how great they are.”

There was another pause. Then, slowly, Keith smiled. “I’ll look forward to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Side note; I may have been listening to [Major Tom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyFe5m2MU9Q) on a loop while writing this. And I might be just a little bit homesick.
> 
> I wrote this in like two hours and it's almost midnight, plus there's was no beta for it, so there may be mistakes. Feel free to point them out so I can fix them.
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here!](http://severalsmallhedgehogs.tumblr.com/)
> 
> EDIT: I fixed the summary so it's actually a summary. God why did this start getting hits before I could go back and fix stuff


End file.
